CNN news 2012-05-16 加文本

cnn news 2012-05-16

CARL AZUZ, HOST, cnn STUDENT NEWS: A lost and found story that takes place in the world`s largest desert. The details on that are coming up as we kick off a new week of cnn Student News. Welcome and hello. I`m Carl Azuz.

First up, Greece is having some trouble trying to put together a new government. A week ago the country held elections for parliament. Seven different political parties won seats, but none of them got more than 19 percent of the vote.

AZUZ (voice-over): So the leaders of the different parties have been trying to organize a coalition. That`s when they`d work together as Greece`s new government with one party`s leader in charge as prime minister.

There have been three attempts to do that since last week`s elections. All three failed. At another meeting yesterday, some of the politicians insulted each other.

If these parties can`t put together plans to form a new government by this Thursday, they`ll have to go back and hold another round of elections. If that happens, the new vote will be sometime next month. And the world is watching.

One issue those Greek leaders are facing is the same reason for rallies this weekend in Spain. Austerity measures -- when a government makes cuts to try to lower its debt -- is the cause. Huge crowds gathered in cities around Spain, protesting the government`s austerity measures. Spain`s economy is struggling severely.

The nation`s unemployment rate: 24 percent. Five years ago, it was just under 8 percent. Al Goodman now has more on this weekend`s protests.

AL GOODMAN, cnn MADRID BUREAU CHIEF: The May 15th movement is back. This movement also called the Indignant Ones, or the Outraged, starting last May 15th and which sparked protests across Spain and in many other countries, had gone relatively dormant in recent months, even as a new conservative government came into power here in Spain, made austerity cuts in the deep economic crisis and yet the movement this day has again filled the emblematic Puerta del Sol square in central Madrid, considered the Ground Zero of the movement.

And they are staying past the 10:00 pm deadline set by the government, which said they could go only till that hour and then they had to clear out.

JEREMY KROPOTKAIN, STUDENT IN MADRID: The whole system needs to be changed. This movement is about making a difference, not through the usual political channels, but through people`s power.

PAOLA ALVARADO, PURCHASING AGENT: We choose our politics for represent us and not for represent the people from the banks.

GOODMAN: As the night wore on, the crowds thinned out. A few tents did appear, but the government said this time there would be no camping. The protests are due to continue through Tuesday -- Al Goodman, cnn, Madrid.

AZUZ (voice-over): Today`s Shoutout goes out to Ms. Boron`s current events class at Haines High School in Haines, Alaska. Which of these wars included fighting in northern Africa? You know what to do. Was it the Hundred Years` War, the Boer Wars, the War of 1812 or World War II? You`ve got three seconds, go.

The only one of these conflicts that included fighting in northern Africa was World War II. That`s your answer, and that`s your Shoutout.

AZUZ: Well, our next report is about a British fighter plane that went down in northern Africa during World War II. After the crash, the pilot was never heard from again, and the plane was presumed to be lost forever in the sands of the Sahara Desert.

That is until now. You`ve got to see this report by Barbara Starr.

BARBARA STARR, cnn REPORTER (voice-over): It sat quietly for 70 years in the Egyptian desert, waiting for someone to find it. The wreckage of a British Royal Air Force P-40, one of hundreds of Kitty Hawk fighter bombers that took on the Nazis across North Africa.

A Polish oil worker exploring the Egyptian desert just came across the wreckage and took these extraordinary images. The plane, mostly intact, after decades in the desert, the cockpit controls from an era gone by, enough to inspire even modern fighter pilots.

COMMODORE KEN MCCANN, U.K. AIR ATTACHE: I just thought what an amazing, amazing story for an aircraft 70 years ago to have gone down in the desert, to be in such good condition and to be found intact after all these years.

STARR (voice-over): Even some ammunition and guns remain.

This archive film shows the plane in action in World War II. In North Africa, its job, to protect troops on the ground fighting the Nazis.

MCCANN: It was an absolute workhorse. It flew extensively throughout that campaign and some may well say it was decisive in tipping the balance in favor of the Allies in North Africa.

STARR (voice-over): Records show the plane went down in the Sahara Desert on June 28th, 1942. According to British newspapers, the pilot is thought to be Flight Sgt. Dennis Copping (ph).

ANDY SAUNDERS, MILITARY AVIATION HISTORIAN: I think the important part of this story is the story of the man that was flying it and what happened to him.

STARR (voice-over): It`s believed he was flying the already damaged plane to a repair site when he crashed. These bullet holes a mystery. Was he shot down? Parachute remnants suggest the young pilot survived and tried to make himself a shelter from the hot sun. But no remains have been found. He may have died in the burning desert looking for help.

STARR: The British military will now visit the desert wreckage site in the coming days and try to make a determination about whether it is feasible to begin a search for the remains of a young World War II pilot who`s been missing for so many years -- Barbara Starr, cnn, The Pentagon.